Lü Kang's reinforcements came quickly, and the troops he led, whether they were infantry or cavalry, were all on horseback, and the artillery also had improved performance of artillery carriages, and the marching speed was much faster than before.

Lü Kang brought with him the 3rd Division of the Haotian Army, the 2nd Infantry Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 2nd Cavalry Division, the 3rd Cavalry Division, the 4th Cavalry Division, and reinforcements from Khorezm, Sistan, and Khorasan.

According to Lü Bu's will, the commander of the expeditionary force was Lu Kang, the deputy marshal was Ma Chao, the chief of staff was Fa Zheng, and the deputy chief of staff was Sima Yi.

After several years of training, Lu Kang has a composure and calmness that does not match his age, and many of his childhood companions have now reached the level of division commander and brigade commander, and have become his powerful helpers.

This time, Lü Bu asked him to command an expedition to rest and Rome, which was to give him ample opportunity to train so that he could take over his throne as emperor in the future.

Lu Kang rushed to Mulu City with the third division of the Haotian Army at the fastest speed, and the other troops and a large number of supplies were still coming slowly.

He took Wen Ping, the commander of the third division, and arrived at the city in the front, and Fa Zheng and others went out of the city to greet his arrival.

After Lü Kang met with the generals, he held a military meeting in the governor's palace to discuss the next move.

Dhamgan is a must-stop on the way to the resting capital of Ctesiphon, so it is inevitable.

It was for this reason that the Romans and the rebels defended Dhamgan with heavy troops.

Ma Chao introduced the details of his head-to-head confrontation with the Roman legions, and the Ministry of Intelligence also obtained Roman casualty statistics from the Romans after the war, and verified that the casualties on both sides were relatively close.

After all, most of the casualties of the Romans were their servant army, and the auxiliary legions of the Romans had not yet used firearms, but were still using pure cold weapons, and it was natural that there were many casualties.

Ma Chao believes that the main reason is that the protection of the Romans is better than that of the Han army, with bronze cuirass and large shields, which can effectively block the shooting of rifles.

Ma Chao emphasized that at this stage, the Romans used front-loading rifled guns, which were comparable in range to the Han rifles, but the rate of fire and accuracy were slightly lower.

The Han army had long since eliminated metal armor and used all leather armor to provide simple protection.

Grenades can be effective in killing and injuring enemies, but the Romans also have imitation grenades, and they do not suffer.

Now, the only thing that has an advantage over the Romans is mortars and field guns, but these artillery pieces are more suitable for defending cities, and on the battlefield in the field, slow artillery is really a good target for the Romans.

After being strengthened by Lü Kang's reinforcements, the strength of the Han army had exceeded that of the Romans and the rest of the rebels combined, and Lü Kang decided to attack, after all, so many troops stayed here, and the daily food and drink were astronomical.

The reinforcements of the Central Asian allies were left behind to guard Mulu City and the logistics supply channel, and the first division of the Haotian Army, which suffered heavy losses, also stayed in Mulu City.

The rest of the Han army set up camp and set off for Dhamgan.

Outside the territory of the Han Dynasty, there were no more wide, flat roads to use, and the speed of the artillery troops was significantly reduced, so the daily itinerary of the Han army depended on these artillery and logistics supply vehicles.

The reconnaissance battalions of several divisions were sent out from afar, and soon the news came back that the Romans and Sabbatarians were still in battle at the city of Damgan.

When the Han army came to the outside of the city, the Romans and the rebels in the city chose to go out of the city to meet them.

This was to the surprise of everyone in the Han army, and two huge legions set up a very spectacular military formation outside the city of Damgan.

Because the Romans were legion-based, it was easy to count the exact number.

Lü Kang and others were surprised to find that the Romans on the opposite side were not the twelve legions mentioned in the original information, but as many as sixteen legions, according to the convention, that is, eight Roman regular legions and eight auxiliary legions.

It seems that during the period when the Han army was waiting for reinforcements from Lü Kang, the Romans were not idle, and they attached great importance to Damgan, and even sent four more legions.

You must know that the Romans had a total of more than 30 regular legions, which accounted for a quarter of the entire Roman Empire, and this proportion was about the same as that of the Han army, which shows how much importance the two empires attached to this war.

The two empires are vast countries, and the number of troops that need to be guarded in all directions is also very large, and a quarter of the troops are used for expeditions, which is already a lot.

On the side of the Romans, in addition to the sixteen legions, there were 80,000 rebellious rebels, and a total of more than 100,000 troops, forming a long battle line.

The Han army was also formed in a slightly looser phalanx with divisions as units, facing the Romans.

After the Han army finished the formation, it took the initiative, the trumpet of the attack sounded, and the second division of the Haotian Army on the left flank took on the important task of testing.

Chen Zhi's infantry team was actually not suitable for this traditional confrontation between the two armies, but was more suitable for mobile warfare and blocking battles in preset positions, which could not give full play to the advantages of the Han army's rifles.

Chen Zhi arranged his three brigades into a pinzig, and each brigade arranged its three regiments into a small pinzig, so that the battle line was extremely long, almost traversing the left flank and center of the Han army.

His aim was to maximize the numerical superiority of his rifles, and in such a formation, nine regiments could shoot at each other at the same time.

Opposite to Chen Zhi were two Roman infantry legions, flanked by their own auxiliary legions, because the auxiliary legions were mainly cold weapons, so they could not shoot at the enemy on the spot like musket troops, but had to launch an attack and fight the enemy hand-to-hand.

Therefore, while the Han army was slowly advancing, the trumpets of the Roman legions sounded, and the two regular Roman legions were in the middle, slowly advancing, with large shields as cover.

The two auxiliary legions, on the other hand, ran in small steps and launched a charge, each with a brigade of three hundred light cavalry, which was the first to attack.

The 8th and 9th Brigades of the Han Army on the left and right could only stop the pace of advance and change their formation to two rows of skirmishers in the front and rear, because the new rifles were fast and did not need the three-line circulation of the previous flintlock muskets.

These Roman servant troops frantically charged towards the Han army's front, and it was their light cavalry that rushed to the front.

These two auxiliary legions were both from Asia Minor, and the light cavalry was only wearing leather armor, which was really light enough.

They used the small round shield in their hands to resist the shooting of the Han army, and their bodies were as low as possible, and their heads were hidden behind the horses and the small round shield.

The mortar battalions of the Han army generally attacked closely with the attacking troops, after all, the firing range was short, and they had to shoot at close range.